King David's Spaceship: Amazon.co.uk: Jerry Pournelle: 9780671720681: Books

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With their discovery by the CoDominium Imperial Navy ending their own one-thousand-year isolation, Prince Samual's World will become a lowly administrated colony, unless the monarch can discover the secrets of space technology.

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Delightful story set at the time of "The Mote in God's Eye", 16 Sep 2010

By

Marshall Lord (Whitehaven, UK) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)

This review is from: King David's Spaceship (An Orbit book) (Paperback)

This marvellous science-fiction adventure is set in Pournelle and Niven's "Future History" series, and the story takes place at about the same time as "The Mote in God's Eye" which is probably the best SF "First Contact" story of all time.

It is early in the fourth millennium. Mankind had reached the stars in the 21st century, but at the end of this century Earth was devastated by a war between the great powers. A colony world called Sparta founded the first "Empire of Man" which kept the peace for five hundred years, but then several worlds tried to break away, and an interstellar war broke out, which devastated most of the worlds of human space.

Prince Samual's world, where the story begin, was blasted back to a renaissance level of culture and by the time the Empire made contact again in 3013, just before the book starts, they've made it back to about the level of technology Earth had in the early 20th century. The planet Makassar, a few light years away, was even worse hit, and is struggling to maintain even a medieval level of culture and technology. Sparta and the Empire's home worlds also suffered, but after the war finally spluttered out a hundred years ago, the Second Empire has been proclaimed and Sparta is gradually re-establishing control of human space.

The Second Empire are grimly determined to do whatever is necessary to make sure that nobody gets a chance to launch another interstellar war.

The hero of the book is Colonel, or rather former Colonel, Nathan McKinnie, who had been the commander of the best regiment in the army of the former state of Orleans - until an Imperial vessel allied to the rival nation of Haven blew his soldiers to bits. The Empire needs a world government to work through in order to annex Prince Samual's World, and the easiest way to get one is to help King David of Haven conquer the planet.

What the Empire doesn't realise is that King David and certain of his ministers know they are being used as puppets and are grimly determined to keep as much independence for the planet as they can.

As a former opponent of Haven, Nathan McKinnie is astonished to get a job offer from one of the most sinister figures in King David's government. If Prince Samual's world can build a spaceship before being taken into the Empire, the planet will keep far more independence and privileges. As someone says in the book, "we can make them take us as subjects, not slaves."

Prince Samual's world is maddeningly close to the level of technology at which they might be able to do this - but not quite there. The nearest place where they might be able to get information on how to build one, is a few light years away - in an old First Empire library, on the planet Makassar. It may be possible for our heroes to hitch a lift to Makassar on a passing trading ship, but they'd better hurry, as it sounds like the last remnants of even a feudal civilisation on Makassar are about to be over-run by thousands of barbarians ...

If you have enjoyed any of the other books in the "Future History" series like "The mote in God's Eye" or its' sequels, "The Gripping Hand" and "Outies," you will love this book.

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Amazon.com: 4.8 out of 5 stars (16 customer reviews)

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Praise for King David's Spaceship, 11 Nov 1997

By Jonathan Markley - Published on Amazon.com

This review is from: King David's Spaceship (Paperback)

It is a real shame to see this book out of print. Janissaries by the same author seems to have been a popular book, and for those who liked that, they should definately give this a look. It combines similar themes of modern military knowledge with ancient military situations, but without the hardware available to Tran's mercenaries. It is set in the same universe as the Mote in God's Eye, at almost exactly the same time, which gives it an interesting context for those who follow this author. However, the plotline has almost nothing to do with Moties. Rather it is the case of a world at roughly industrial revolution level which is faced with the prospect of forceable reunification into the human empire. They discover that the only way to retain any kind of autonomy is to show that they can independently launch a spaceship. People from their world are forbidden to travel to any "higher" level planet, but are allowed to travel to planets classified as being in a primitive state. They send a team, led by one of their soldiers to another planet which is in a state of medieval technology, but where a galactic library survives. In the process of recovering vital information, they are forced to mobilise the local population to defeat the equivalent of a Mongol horde. An interesting military situation, mixed in with all sorts of historical and science fiction elements. It deserves wider attention, and certainly to be available in print. Thank God I already have a copy!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An excellent novel of future conflict!, 13 May 2005

By Roger J. Buffington - Published on Amazon.com

This review is from: King David's Spaceship (Hardcover)

I liked this novel a lot. It is set in the same universe as "The Mote in God's Eye" and takes place contemporaneously with that novel's story. In this one, the Empire of Man has discovered a colony world of humans that had been bombed back into a technological level about equivalent to Earth in 1900 or so. The Empire's technology is obviously centuries ahead of the colony's, and the Empire has strict rules about how such backward colonies, which lack space travel, are to be assimilated into the Empire. The plan involves bringing in favored persons from the Empire and more or less supplanting the local aristocrats with a new nobility. The locals are expected to submit or else.

The ruling folk on the colony get wind of this plan, which the Empire is concealing from them, and hatch a scheme of their own to avoid being subjigated. More would be telling, but this is actually an engaging and imaginative tale that I have returned to and enjoyed several times.

As always, Pournelle does a great job describing ground warfare with ancient weapons (pikes and spears, mostly) and the characterizations in this novel are pretty good. I enjoyed this one more than "The Mote in God's Eye" and I highly recommended it to anyone who enjoys a good military-political science fiction novel.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exciting military adventure, 16 Aug 2002

By booksforabuck "BooksForABuck" - Published on Amazon.com

This review is from: King David's Spaceship (Paperback)

Colonel Nathan MacKinnie is bitter about the world. The Imperial Navy has propped up the Havenite government and wiped out MacKinnie's resistance killing the woman he loves while doing so. When King David of Haven asks for MacKinnie's assistance, he has decidedly mixed feelings. Still, the choices available for a retired colonel in a losing army are limited.

With help from the Imperial Navy and Imperial merchants, MacKinnie and a small group of associates leave Prince Samual's World to journey to Makassar, an even less advanced planet which happens to contain an ancient First Empire library. If MacKinney can learn enough, Prince Samual's World stands a chance to become a full member of the Empire rather than simply another colony world.

KING DAVID'S SPACESHIP is an intriguing 'fish out of water' story. MacKinnie and his collegues are from a low-technology world by the standards of the Empire, but have far more advanced technologies than those available on Makassar. Unfortunately, they are forbidden to use these technologies, and Makassar is bound and determined not to let anyone have access to the library, which they regard as a holy place. Somehow MacKinnie must take what he knows and dominate the Makassar civilization--without Imperial soldiers learning anything about it. His military background gives him hope, but what can he do against the tens of thousands of barbarians threatening the ancient temple city?

KING DAVID'S SPACESHIP is set in the motie world created by Pournelle and his frequent collaborator Larry Niven, but can be read without any knowledge of the excellent MOTE IN GOD'S EYE novel.

It's great to see this novel back in print.

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